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mlphipps1991's review against another edition
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, and Abortion
housedesignerking's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This is a book that I never pictured myself reading. In 2008, I honestly pictured myself reading a John McCain presidential memoir sometime after his 4 or 8 years in office, eventually reading Sarah Palin's vice-presidential memoir. Obviously, that's not what happened. Senator Obama and Senator Biden went on to become President and Vice-President, respectively. This historic moment in history did not happen with a vote from me. I don't miss that time period when it comes to the political and social atmospheres. If you didn't vote for Obama, you were somehow a racist; if you didn't vote for McCain, you were somehow unamerican; if you liked Biden, you were somehow a supporter of reckless decisions made in anger; and if you liked Palin, you were as dumb as people claimed she was. I also don't miss the political and social atmospheres that followed that election till roughly 2015. People were either fueled by the Tea Party (which was basically a red herring) or unintelligibly stuck in the idea that if you weren't with the dems, you were a racist, and nothing you said would ever matter. I have lived to regret my decision to support McCain and Palin after I saw his very public meltdown about 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' and after seeing her role in the Tea Party and eventually her flouting of Fauci's pandemic recommendations (not to mention, her refusal to support same gender marriage). So, when my fiancé suggested we buy this book and read it, I readily agreed.
Let no one say that Barack Obama is unintelligent. This book was clearly written by a well-educated man, and my love affair with his way with words was obvious to my fiancé as we read this together. This president's way with words is not only engaging but also riveting and funny at times. To the dismay of my younger self, I really didn't find many disagreements between this president and myself. The first thing I could really say that I disagreed with him on (as far as the time covered in this book) was on pg 234: one of the first things he did as president was lift President W. Bush's moratorium on federally funded embryonic stem cell research. His words on growing up black were educational and eye-opening. I don't personally agree with some of his viewpoints regarding what is and isn't racially motivated, but being of two 'minorities' myself, I can definitely see how those perceptions can come to be. Aside from those, I could see why he made certain decisions, or my objection was about something so small that it isn't even worth mentioning. With this book, he went from his childhood to political life to his 2008 campaign and election and comes to a close on the death of Osama bin Laden. That final chapter was both harrowing and surreal and probably is for anyone who is old enough to remember September 11th, 2001.
It's 2022 as I type this, and though my younger self would probably be shocked and would protest, I will say that he was a good president. I still maintain that my lack of support for his candidacy had nothing to do with race: it was simply about who I thought was the lesser of two evils, but I will say that today, I somewhat wish I had supported him... At least the first time. I still maintain that Romney would be a great president, and I'm still a moderate republican. I'm not sure how much more praise a formerly unsupportive voter could give after what I've written, so I will end by saying that I give this book 4 stars. It's one heck of a book!
Let no one say that Barack Obama is unintelligent. This book was clearly written by a well-educated man, and my love affair with his way with words was obvious to my fiancé as we read this together. This president's way with words is not only engaging but also riveting and funny at times. To the dismay of my younger self, I really didn't find many disagreements between this president and myself. The first thing I could really say that I disagreed with him on (as far as the time covered in this book) was on pg 234: one of the first things he did as president was lift President W. Bush's moratorium on federally funded embryonic stem cell research. His words on growing up black were educational and eye-opening. I don't personally agree with some of his viewpoints regarding what is and isn't racially motivated, but being of two 'minorities' myself, I can definitely see how those perceptions can come to be. Aside from those, I could see why he made certain decisions, or my objection was about something so small that it isn't even worth mentioning. With this book, he went from his childhood to political life to his 2008 campaign and election and comes to a close on the death of Osama bin Laden. That final chapter was both harrowing and surreal and probably is for anyone who is old enough to remember September 11th, 2001.
It's 2022 as I type this, and though my younger self would probably be shocked and would protest, I will say that he was a good president. I still maintain that my lack of support for his candidacy had nothing to do with race: it was simply about who I thought was the lesser of two evils, but I will say that today, I somewhat wish I had supported him... At least the first time. I still maintain that Romney would be a great president, and I'm still a moderate republican. I'm not sure how much more praise a formerly unsupportive voter could give after what I've written, so I will end by saying that I give this book 4 stars. It's one heck of a book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, War, and Deportation
eldritch_flower's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Last year I read Becoming by the illustrious Michelle Obama. Reading her account of the events throughout her marriage with Barack and her role as First Lady was inspiring and a necessary voice in the world. And I knew I needed to read Barack Obama's book as well to see the other side of the this complex story.
And to be transparent, I admired both Obamas long before reading their books(and I still do).
I really enjoyed this. I listened to the audiobook, read by Barack. It details his journey into politics, his marriage to Michelle, the birth of his children, and his career in his first four years as president. He is honest and blunt in his telling of events throughout his career. What I really appreciated though what his willingness to talk about what he wanted to do and the reasons why it couldn't happen, or his thoughts on a situation versus how he needed to conduct himself as President of the United States. It made me admire him all the more because I can actually see his thought process and his feelings when he had to do things he didn't agree with because the options were weighed against what he wanted to do.
I'll also be the first to say that he is in no way, shape or form perfect. But he acknowledges his shortcomings, his mistakes, and his struggles.
Overall, the 30 hour audiobook is well worth the listen. And I know I'll be buying physical copies and this book, and Michelle's book.
And to be transparent, I admired both Obamas long before reading their books(and I still do).
I really enjoyed this. I listened to the audiobook, read by Barack. It details his journey into politics, his marriage to Michelle, the birth of his children, and his career in his first four years as president. He is honest and blunt in his telling of events throughout his career. What I really appreciated though what his willingness to talk about what he wanted to do and the reasons why it couldn't happen, or his thoughts on a situation versus how he needed to conduct himself as President of the United States. It made me admire him all the more because I can actually see his thought process and his feelings when he had to do things he didn't agree with because the options were weighed against what he wanted to do.
I'll also be the first to say that he is in no way, shape or form perfect. But he acknowledges his shortcomings, his mistakes, and his struggles.
Overall, the 30 hour audiobook is well worth the listen. And I know I'll be buying physical copies and this book, and Michelle's book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, War, and Classism
pagesfromhome's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
Barack Obama was the first president I volunteered for as well as the first one I voted for. So naturally, I'm a little biased to liking him and it would come as no surprise that I loved the first part of his memoirs.
Obama is known for being a little long-winded and that is certainly the case here. He often dives into the political process in ways that can feel a little too heavy in juxtaposition to the moments where he waxes poetic about the love he holds for his family. I'll admit that by far my favorite parts of the book were those moments where he was either speaking about his wife and daughters or the moments where he let his honesty really shine. At multiple points of the book, Obama is clearly saying things that he didn't feel appropriate sharing as President so I really enjoyed that blunt honesty. Unfortunately, having those moments of complete honesty then made those moments of not-so-honest stores felt more cagey.
Ultimately, this book was a 4.25 star for me. Obama is an incredible writer and I am very much looking forward to the next part of this series. I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in hearing about the goings-on of the modern political process, but as always, be aware that every political memoir is a piece of propaganda even though Obama is exceptionally self-aware of his own flaws throughout the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, and Islamophobia
alylentz's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
More readable and engrossing than I expected from a political memoir that's so hefty. Started to feel a little formulaic after a while, but I definitely learned a lot and feel like I got a lot out of reading this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Cancer, Genocide, Gun violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, and Grief
Minor: Death, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, and Religious bigotry